Ken LaRose was named the 22nd head football coach at Butler University in February of 1992, ending his eight-year tenure as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs. He immediately guided the Bulldogs to an 8-2 season and a team title in the rugged Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference. He tied Bill Lynch for the most wins by a first-year Butler grid coach, and equaled Lynch's feat of winning a conference championship in his initial season!

LaRose followed that initial success by guiding Butler through its football transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I-AA non-scholarship status. He led the Bulldogs to a 4-6 campaign and a runner-up finish in the newly-formed Pioneer Football League in Butlers first year of I-AA football, and then took the team to a 7-3 campaign and a share of the PFL championship in 1994.

A 1980 Butler graduate, LaRose began his coaching tenure with the Bulldogs in 1984 as an assistant coach in charge of linebackers and defensive ends under Sylvester. He remained with Butlers defensive unit under Lynch, and was named defensive coordinator under Bartolomeo. In 1991, Butler led the NCAA Division II in scoring defense (7.1 ppg), while finishing fourth in the nation in both pass efficiency defense and total defense.

A Cincinnati native, LaRose was a prep football standout at powerful Moeller High School, where he played under former Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust. He helped Moeller to a pair of unbeaten regular season records, and was named all-conference, all-city and all-state. He continued his football playing career at Butler, earning four varsity letters, 1976-79, as an offensive lineman. He was a three-year all-conference performer, and he was named Butlers most valuable player in his senior season.

LaRose, who holds a masters degree in education from Butler, and his wife, Diana, have three children, Gina, Kenny and Anthony.